Slackk - Raw Missions EP

Slackk - Raw Missions EP
Last we heard from scouser Slackk he was making fluorescent eskibeat with "Polar Bear" and bizarre sexed-up juke as Patrice & Friends. He continues his laboratory experiments with his first EP for Local Action, a synth-soaked exercise in retro reverse engineering.

"Blue Sleet" layers its nervous-tic drum track with languid chords that linger in residual sustain so that the off-kilter harmony fiercely clashes with the clap-happy percussion. It packs all the power of his sparest eski experiments but with the saturation on overdrive. On "Fat City" his quivering melodies sound awestruck by their own tinny power, as drum machines march a forked path determinedly underneath. He's taking the video game references of producers like Slugabed and melting them down into a plastic exoticism that's ardently artificial but spectacular all the same.

The other two tracks hint closer to his grime roots: "Almost Transparent" throws a gruff Wiley bassline underneath a snake-charmer melody, while "90 Years" is closer to what we're used to from Slackk. It's like his Numbers release but altogether less housey—brittle and acerbic, its hammering chords drop as hydrogen bombs of midrange screech with a gabber-like intensity. "Ice Rink" back in 2002 might have set the bar for brutal frigidity, but here Slackk is bringing those same chilly grime ideals to a whole new level of crystalline shine.